NUC11TNi3 - no audio passthrough

[arcollo8]

I purchased a NUC11TNi3 to use as a HTPC due to the specs indicating that it can play 4K HDR movies with lossless audio. This is not the case. The NUC is attached to a Sony A80J tv via 8K certified cable, which is attached to a Samsung HW-Q870A soundbar.

Previously I had a Nvidia Shield 2019 pro attached to the same cable and that worked perfectly. But decided to make the switch due to a hardware fault.

I have installed all the latest driver updates based on the Intel update agent. I am also running Windows 11 Home 22H2 which is fully patched.

I have tested the audio on VLC, Kodi and Plex. Usually the TV indicates to me what audio is being sent, lossy formats are fine but DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD are not.

I noticed that there have been similar issues in the past with passthrough, any solutions apart from just driver updates?

[arcollo8]

Just to update. When I plugged the HDMI cable into port 2 works fine. I will continue to test though.

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @arcollo8. 

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.  

I am sorry to hear what is happening to your NUC, I will gladly assist you here. 

-Did you make sure that the HDMI passthrough is enabled in the third-party player? 

-Just to confirm, Do the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD work fine with HDMI port 2 but not with HDMI port 1? 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[arcollo8]

I can confirm that port 2 works fine. I have also tried a different port on my TV and another cable as well. It seems there is an issue with port 1. BIOS version 0069.

Passthrough is also enabled in my players.

[Win7ine]

I have the same issue with both my NUC11TNKi7 and NUC11TNHi5, had opened TWO support cases with Intel here who are still denying your and my finding to be accurate. Fact is DTS-HD and DOLBY HD can only be passed through/bitstreamed over HDMI Port 2.

The two HDMI ports are different in hardware indeed as it turns out and INTEL are miss selling capability and have taken weeks

of my time with ridiculous instructions  such as to "try this and try that" and I had to find out myself that HDMI 2 ONLY works as it is sold for both my units and obviously also yours.

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @arcollo8. 

Thank you for the information provided. 

Did you make sure your TV has the latest Firmware? 

Please, provide us with an Intel® SSU report for further research. 

Note: Make sure to mark the box that says "everything" before pressing the Scan button. After that, click on "Next>" and select "Save" and then, attach the .txt file. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Win7ine]

@Jocelyn_Intel  please clarify (when asking about TV firmware) which TV set you think is ever used to decode & output DTS-HD or DOLBY-HD Audio please?  

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Win7ine. 

It is correct, both HDMI ports are connected to different communication channels. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Win7ine. 

We have tested some products with our NUCs but, so far, we don't have a category or tested products that we could recommend for these audio settings in the Intel® compatibility tool. Although, the NUC does support these passthrough audio settings. 

It is worth mentioning that we are not aware of the settings of third-party products like TV/Audio setups or guarantee they will work as expected since they were not manufactured by Intel, so we try our best to provide suggestions from our end regarding our products. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Win7ine]

@Jocelyn_Intel you seem to have missed the whole point and I question the quality of your answers and support in all. FYI:

TV's are hardly used to decode and playback multi channel, lossless HD coded DTS/DOLBY audio, it is the more or less capable "soundbars" or more adequately AUDIO-receivers which in turn drive multiple Speakers spatially distributed and arranged  in an auditorium. These AUDIO-receivers (including Soundbars) in turn adhere to specifications laid out under the HDMI norms for example.

Excerpt from the "Technical Product Specification" Revision 1.4, June 2022

Fact is "DTS-HD Master" and "Dolby True HD" ONLY work over "HDMI 2" with current firmware and hardware.

This your customers have to find out themselves.

At no point did any Intel support team member suggest this.

Nor does any manual mention it. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @arcollo8 and @Win7ine. 

Thank you for the information provided so far. 

Please, provide us with an Intel® SSU reports for further investigation about this issue: 

Note: Make sure to mark the box that says "everything" before pressing the Scan button. After that, click on "Next>" and select "Save" and then, attach the .txt file. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[arcollo8]

Report attached.

[arcollo8]

All my hardware including the soundbar and TV run up to date firmware. I will provide the report later on today.

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @arcollo8. 

Thank you for the report provided. 

I will proceed to investigate further this issue, so as soon as I have updates, I will post them here. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @arcollo8. 

Thank you for your time. 

We noticed that your graphics driver is not up to date, please update your graphics driver to the latest version and test the audio again, the graphics driver controls the audio. 

If the issue persists, please provide us with an updated Intel® SSU report for further research about this issue. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @arcollo8. 

We are checking this thread and we would like to know if you were able to review our previous post. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us back. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[arcollo8]

I have updated the drivers no change. Still an issue.

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @arcollo8. 

In that case, please provide us with an updated Intel® SSU report to continue with the investigation from our end. 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @arcollo8.   

We are checking this thread and we would like to know if you were able to review our previous post. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us back 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @arcollo8.   

We have not heard back from you so we will proceed to close this thread now. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.  

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[arcollo8]

Please do not close the ticket. I have been away. I will upload the files in the next few hours.